Health boss fears further strain during junior doctor strike in East Midlands
Staff at some of our hospitals are expecting added pressure
Staff and patients at some of hospitals in Peterborough, Stamford and Rutland are preparing to face more disruption in the latest round of junior doctor strikes from today.
The longest strike in NHS history comes amid a long-running pay dispute between the British Medical Association and the government.
NHS Providers said the "unprecedented" action will lead to delays in care for thousands of patients.
The organisation, which represents NHS trusts, also called for a swift resolution to the dispute between the Government and junior doctors as it warned of the threat of other health workers taking more strike action.
Dr Callum Gardner's the chief medical officer at the North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust, which runs hospitals including in Huntingdon and Peterborough:
"There's no doubt these ongoing rounds of industrial action continue to have a significant adverse impact both on our patients and staff," he said.
"Given the duration of six days, the fact it's starting just after new year and this period tends to be the busiest that NHS organisations are, so it's clear it's going to have a bigger impact on our elective activity."
Callum added the effects on staff may get worse:
"Staff that are putting themselves forward to continue to make our patients as safe as possible are very tired.
"Over the last couple of days, we've been busier with ambulance conveyance and planning on the assumption we'll be even busier than normal so we can set ourselves up as best as possible going into the period of industrial action.
"My big plea would be for members of the public to use our services sensibly, to only come to emergency departments if they truly need urgent or emergency care because it will be difficult for us to see the volume of patients we've seen previously."
Patients still urged to come forward
The strike, which follows on from last month's three-day walkout, will run until 7am on Tuesday, January 9.
The NHS has warned that the strike action, which could see up to half of the medical workforce in England walk out, could lead to "the most difficult start to the year the NHS has ever faced".
It said emergency and urgent care will be prioritised during the strikes and almost all routine care will be affected.
But patients are being urged to still come forward to seek care if they need it.
Commenting on the industrial action, Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the industrial action "couldn't come at a worse time.
"Trusts have planned thoroughly to keep patients safe and to provide critical and emergency care but the scale of the challenge in an unprecedented six-day strike will be bigger than ever before.
"We need a speedy resolution to this dispute as we see the risk of industrial action by other staff returning in our health services."
On Tuesday, Professor Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England's national medical director, said the action comes at "one of our busiest periods" and warned that the strike action will mean the NHS is "starting 2024 on the back foot".
But he added: "I cannot stress enough that people who need care must come forward as they usually would - using 999 and A&E in life-threatening emergencies and 111 online for everything else."
BMA will 'continue to meet' government during strikes
In a statement, Dr Robert Laurenson and Dr Vivek Trivedi, co-chairmen of the British Medical Association's (BMA) junior doctors committee, said it spent the Christmas-New Year period hoping to get a revised offer from the government.
"Sadly, we have received no such offer despite repeatedly saying we would meet for talks any time over Christmas," they said.
"We will continue to offer to meet throughout these coming strikes. All we need is a credible offer we can put to members and we can call off these strikes.
"This strike marks another unhappy record for the NHS - the longest single walkout in its history - but there is no need for any records to fall: we can call off this strike now if we get an offer from government that we can put to members."
Health Secretary Victoria Atkins said the latest strikes will have a major impact on patients.
“Over 1.2 million appointments have already been rescheduled since industrial action began, including over 88,000 during last month’s strikes," she said.
“The NHS has again put in place robust contingency plans to protect patient safety and it is vital anyone who needs medical help continues to come forward.
“I urge the BMA Junior Doctors Committee to call off their strikes and come back to the negotiating table so we can find a fair and reasonable solution to end the strikes once and for all.”
Government pay offer not enough, says BMA
The BMA said junior doctors' pay has been cut by more than a quarter since 2008.
In summer 2023, the government gave junior doctors in England an average rise of 8.8%, but medics said the increase was not enough and ramped up strike efforts.
Late last year the government and junior doctors entered talks with a view to breaking the deadlock, but after five weeks of negotiations the talks broke down and medics called more strikes.
Junior doctors from the Hospital Consultants and Specialists Association union will also join colleagues on picket lines.
Consultants and specialty and associate specialist (SAS) doctors have since agreed a deal with the government, which is now being put to members.